Plural of Octopus: Octopi or Octopuses?

I first heard about the video below [jump to video] from my cousin Edward and his wife Heather. I thought it was one of the funniest things I had heard that month. Then again, it could have had a lot to do with Edward’s delivery.

This all came about from something Heather showed me on Skype:

It went a little something like this:

Amy Tucker: Will you make it a speach bubble? Everything else I like. It’s just so stark. Does that make sense?

Heather Solos: Everyone knows octopi don’t talk so I’m happy with it being a sign.

Comments

I Australian. As a direct result, if you see any octopus, you say ‘watch out’ because the most common one, will kill you. If you see more than one, you usualy say ‘ oh shit how do i get out now?’ or ‘ahhhh’. pluralising doesn’t come up that often.

Not only is either one correct, but there is a third, which is the real plural. People think that “octopus” comes from Latin, which is why the “us” often becomes “i” but, in reality, it’s a Greek word. In Greek, the singular ending “us” becomes “ides.”

The REAL plural of “octopus” is “octopides” which is pronounced “oct-ti-pi-deez”